Google is set to release improved privacy tools that will give you more control over your personal data and potentially problematic search results.
Google has launched a new tool to delete your personal data – Here's how!
Google launched its personal information deletion tools in 2022, but the company is now working on a few changes that will make deleting your personal information easier and give you a little more control. Similarly, SafeSearch will soon offer more options for your family to prevent them from accidentally viewing “explicit images.”
'Results about you' was meant to make it easier to request removal of personal information from search results, but Google didn't think it was easy enough. The privacy tool is getting a bit of a makeover with an updated dashboard that will alert you to new results that contain your personal information (i.e., address, email address, or phone number). And when that information appears, you'll have the ability to request its removal (from the search results, not the source) right from within the tool itself.
Some policies around “Results About You” are also changing. Previously, Google’s criteria focused on personal information posted without consent. With the expanded guidance, personal information that you may have posted intentionally (but now want removed) will also be considered for removal. Although Google has clarified that this updated policy does not apply to information that you commercialize, so if you want it removed, you’ll need to do that first.
